USC Trojans: Can Carroll’s Trojans Still Dominate?

NCAA Preview: USC Trojans

I’m not sold, okay? I’m just not. Expert college football picks from a number of different sources no doubt will start keying in on the USC Trojans this season as the team to bet.

After all, those sources will say, “The Trojans were awesome against the San Jose State Spartans and Ohio State Buckeyes. They are going to rout the Pac-10 and march into the BSC Championship game this season.”

Hey, that could happen, but I’m not ready to say it will just yet because of a few things. First, beating the Buckeyes this weekend is going to happen, but the Buckeyes aren’t that good of a team. If you don’t believe me, then take a look at all of those expert college football picks that no doubt will start coming out soon and you will get the idea. When every so called expert in the nation picks the same game as their game of the week, then you can be assured that it will probably happen. Guess what? There isn’t a soul on this planet that believes that USC doesn’t cover the spread against the Ohio State Buckeyes this Saturday.

That, my friends, is not the issue. The issue is whether or not a team with a freshman quarterback will covers spreads with regularity. That is going to be the question with USC and Matt Barkley, their freshman quarterback once the Trojans get into Pac-10 play.

USC didn’t cover a whole lot spreads in 2008 and that was with Mark Sanchez at quarterback and a terrifyingly good defense. Now, with a virtually brand new defense and a freshman quarterback, USC is attempting to win another Pac-10 title and possibly play for the BCS National Championship. If their game against San Jose State is any indication, that is not out of the realm of possibility, but, again, will the Trojans cover spreads on their way to the BCS Championship game?

I don’t offer expert college football picks because I’m not an expert, I’m just a regular guy who likes to gamble, but I do believe that there are a few things we can glean from the Trojan’s demolition of the San Jose State Spartans. The first is that Matt Barkley is going to play well, for the most part in 2009. The second is the spread sin USC Trojan games are going to be ridiculous, again.

How do I know this? I know this because odds makers no doubt will believe that the USC Trojans are as good as they showed against the San Jose State Spartans and what they are going to show against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Don’t believe the hype. The Trojans still sport a new defense and a freshman quarterback in Matt Barkley.

This doesn’t mean of course that the Trojans will lose a single game this season. It just means that betting them to cover spreads might not be the best way to go this year.

If I were an expert who made expert college football picks and my requirement was to pick wagers on USC games, then what I would say is to look to bet the Trojans to cover spreads when facing a ranked team, like the Ohio State Buckeyes, and not to cover spreads when the Trojans face an unranked team.

That’s the way I see it.